1: Chapter 1 The Future World

Gao Yuan's business venture failed.

It only took two weeks to go from being worth over a hundred million to having nothing at all.

Two weeks ago, he was still a hot new star in the startup world, but a single rumor could instantly make his company worthless...

Investors withdrew their capital, banks called in loans, and suppliers demanded early payment; it seemed as if the entire world had turned against him overnight.

Utterly disheartened, Gao Yuan declared bankruptcy.

He came with nothing, and he left with nothing...

After these three years, Gao Yuan had nothing but a complete mess.

After Gao Yuan went bankrupt, his so-called friends distanced themselves, and the girlfriend who used to be so clingy and sweet became repulsive.

Gao Yuan decided to return to his hometown...

The place where he was born and raised.

Dragging a suitcase, after eight hours on a high-speed train, two hours on a bus, and another half hour on a tricycle, Gao Yuan finally returned to this village at the foot of Daqing Mountain in southeast Xia Country—Muza!

In ancient Chinese, Muza means 'wood chips.' The place was named Muza because it was a logging camp decades ago, with wood chips flying everywhere.

As Gao Yuan drew closer to the village, his heart grew increasingly anxious.

The old house he had been away from for many years was now his only shelter.

He didn't know what his life would be like from now on!

Gao Yuan had imagined his life: raising a dog, growing some vegetables; the bustle of the big city would no longer have anything to do with him, and his future days would only consist of the mountain village and countryside.

He soon walked into the village.

At the village entrance, some elderly people were sitting by their doors soaking up the sun; seeing Gao Yuan, they stared at him curiously...

"Young man, who are you looking for?"

"Uncle, I'm coming home!"

"Whose child are you? The kids nowadays all look like strangers; I don't dare try to recognize them..."

Gao Yuan smiled. "Old Gao's grandson!"

The elderly people looked at each other!

"Old Gao?"

Suddenly, someone had an epiphany. "Oh, Old Gao! I remember now..."

"Are you that boss in Longjing? I heard people say that Old Gao's grandson is very rich..."

Gao Yuan gave a bitter smile. "That's me!"

When the elderly people heard that Gao Yuan was actually the legendary, incredibly wealthy grandson of the Gao Family, they immediately became interested.

"Are you planning to come back and invest this time?"

Gao Yuan shook his head. "I'm planning to come back and stay for a while! I'm bankrupt now!"

"How did you go bankrupt? We were still waiting for you to come back and invest!"

"Yeah, you only remember to come back after you've gone bankrupt!"

The tone of the several elderly people suddenly became less enthusiastic than before.

However, one of the old men coughed, and the people around him immediately went silent.

The old man looked at Gao Yuan.

"Oh, it's good to be back. I'm afraid that old house of yours is no longer fit for living!"

"Yeah, I passed by your old house a few days ago; the grass inside is taller than a person!"

"And the glass is broken too!"

"Young people rarely come back nowadays; only us old folks are left in the village..."

Gao Yuan walked along, his heart filled with desolation.

Soon, he saw his family's old house.

Gao Yuan hadn't been back since graduating from high school; it had been almost ten years...

Gao Yuan looked at the large, rusty lock, found a stone, and smashed it...

*Clack*, the lock opened...

When he opened the door, besides the creaking sounds, there was also the rumbling sound of the large iron gate scraping against the ground because it was warped...

As soon as he entered, Gao Yuan took a step back...

It really wasn't an exaggeration; the grass was taller than a person, and there were even some small trees in the middle, likely grown from seeds blown into the yard by the wind.

The dense vegetation made it feel like walking into a primeval forest, completely obscuring the house inside.

Gao Yuan sighed and set his things down.

Then he went to the utility room to find a hoe or a sickle. He quickly found one, but it was covered in rust. Gao Yuan tried to cut the grass a few times, but it wouldn't cut at all.

After hesitating for a moment, he steeled himself and went to the neighbor's house. He knocked on the door, and a young woman looked at Gao Yuan...

"You..."

"Do you have a sickle or a hoe? Could I borrow them?"

The young woman hesitated for a moment, then suddenly pointed at Gao Yuan. "You... are Gao Yuan? You're back from Longjing?"

"Yeah... and you are?"

"You forgot? We were middle school classmates. I married into Muza!"

Gao Yuan was a bit embarrassed; he really couldn't remember...

After some brief pleasantries, he borrowed the tools and began clearing the yard!

After working for several hours, his clothes were soaked through.

He had barely managed to tidy up the front yard, revealing the dilapidated old house inside.

The surface of the old house's red bricks was already somewhat weathered, and several panes of glass were broken. When Gao Yuan opened the door, a musty smell wafted toward him.

It really wasn't fit for living.

Fortunately, the weather was already warm. Gao Yuan planned to sleep in the yard tonight and go buy some daily necessities tomorrow.

Having cleared the front yard, Gao Yuan was already dog-tired. He really didn't have the courage to open the backyard; if the front was like this, the back would likely be even worse.

After resting for a while, Gao Yuan pumped a bucket of water from the old well in the yard and washed his face...

Refreshed by the icy well water, Gao Yuan regained his energy.

So, he pushed open the door to the backyard...

He took a step inside...

Then he was stunned. It was clean and tidy, exactly like the yard in Gao Yuan's childhood memories; there wasn't even a single fallen leaf on the ground...

No... that's not right.

It wasn't exactly the same. Standing abruptly in the middle of the backyard was a box about three meters high, and there was a door on the box.

Surprised, Gao Yuan pushed open the door and saw an unimaginable world.

Where is this?

A parallel world?

Gao Yuan was stunned. Before his eyes were skyscrapers towering into the clouds, streets teeming with people, and the sky filled with dense swarms of flying vehicles...

Gao Yuan could see that the people on the street were dressed strangely; many were wearing jumpsuits made of a very unusual material.

Gao Yuan stepped through the door. Looking back, the door was still there; he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he could return.

The streets in this world were filled entirely with pedestrians; there were no cars, only low-altitude flying vehicles in the sky. Although these vehicles came in various shapes, every one of them was full of a futuristic, high-tech feel.

Gao Yuan also noticed that there were many types of shops on both sides of the street, even more than in the modern world.

As he passed several restaurants, Gao Yuan's stomach began to protest.

Gao Yuan had been traveling since yesterday, and having spent half the day tidying the yard after just returning today, he had been hungry for a long time...

Seeing the delicious food now, he couldn't bring himself to move on...

He happened to see a beautiful woman with a stunning figure selling food: "Synthetic Roast Chicken! The taste highly restores that of a real roast chicken. Special price: one hundred!"

Synthetic Roast Chicken? One hundred?

Gao Yuan was truly starving. Smelling the aroma, he couldn't move another step and approached her. "I'll take one!"

Having said that, he pulled out his phone to pay, but couldn't find a QR code!